Drought Conditions
"Previously on the West Wing" spoken by C.J. Vice President Russell appears to be the front runner for the Democratic nomination for president. However, a new contender, Senator Rafferty, gives an amazing speech and has the press buzzing with her ideas. Josh discovers an interesting link between Senator Rafferty's health-care plan and the President's original plan which only someone on the inside would be privy to. Meanwhile, C.J. is trying to get Congress to back a bill. Toby is more morose than usual after the death of his brother. Josh finds it difficult to enter the White House, as Margaret has cancelled his pass. Eventually he gets in, and learns of Toby's bereavement. After an initial conversation, the two frustrated men soon start flinging recriminations of betrayal, and the situation escalates. Josh is furious that Toby leaked a plan they worked on together, and Toby is furious that Josh "abandoned" him to work on a suicide-run campaign. The argument heats up, and they begin physically attacking each other, leaving White House staff stunned and flabbergasted. Summary Opening Toby is sitting at a bar, reading the newspaper. A woman comes and sits at the bar and begins to talk to Toby. We will ultimately learn that it is Senator Ricky Rafferty, who Toby had pushed to get into the Presidential race. She asks what happened to Toby's face. In the Santos Campaign office, Santos and the others, (sans Josh) are taking pride in the good media coming from Santos' third-place finish in New Hampshire. Josh is wondering why people are all of a sudden talking about Senator Rafferty. Josh is excited they are starting to do well, but is concerned about the last-minute candidacy of Senator Rafferty. Act I Toby arrives at the White House and is greeted by Annabeth. He appears to be distracted. C.J. is preparing for a meeting with the President and Margaret comes in and accidentally spills coffee all over her. In the meeting with the President and others, she holds the briefing binder up to hide the coffee stain. In the Senior Staff Meeting, Annabeth tells the President the DNC Gala is that evening and he should not go out of his way to avoid the presidential candidates. As the meeting breaks up, the President asks Toby to stay behind for a moment and asks him how he is doing and that he should take as much time as he needs. Toby tells the President he prefers to be back at work. Back in the bar, Senator Rafferty again asks how Toby cut his face, but he demurs and continues to tell her the story. Leo and C.J. walk back to her office and talk about the "lack of Josh" and other issues, including her planned meetings with several lobbyists and that she needs Leo's help. One of the lobbyists is Cliff Calley, who was the House Counsel who investigated Leo. Annabeth comes in and C.J. tells her not to worry about the gala: Russell's going to win the nomination and the President will endorse him. Annabeth tells her that Greg Brock thinks otherwise, and C.J. tells Annabeth to send Greg to see her. Kate comes in next, needing help with a diplomatic issue, then Charlie comes in and gets dragooned to help Kate. Charlie points out that he is still waiting for remarks from Toby. C.J. tells Charlie to remind Toby that the event is this week. As Charlie and Kate walk and talk, he asks her if she is interested in being fixed up. Someone he knows from the gym has asked him if Kate was seeing anyone. Margaret is trying to clean C.J.'s blouse, and she finally gives C.J. her blazer. Leo comes in and asks if she's ready for the meeting with Calley. Margaret then tells C.J. that Greg Brock is here. She tells Leo that she will meet him in the Mural Room. Brock comes in and C.J. tries to tell him that the President has not picked a candidate. Brock says that everything he's hearing suggests that is not the case. Back at the bar, Senator Rafferty and Toby continue to talk. She asks about the funeral service and that she would have liked to have been there. Then she asks him: "So, who threw the first punch?" Act II Cliff Calley arrives at the White House for a meeting with C.J. and Leo on a water bill. Calley is now lobbying and proceeds to tell Leo and C.J. that the bill has no chance of passage. Josh arrives for lunch with C.J. but can't get into the building, because his pass has been canceled. No one will sign him in. Kate and Charlie meet up again and she tells Charlie she's willing to meet the guy who asked about her. Will comes up and asks for Charlie. Kate takes offence at being interrupted. Josh has been admitted to the building and tries to get into the Oval Office, but Debbie tells him there's no chance. Leo and C.J. talk after the meeting with Cliff. Leo suggests they should hire Cliff. Josh arrives in Margaret's office to see C.J., irritated at the way he's being treated in the White House. Will tries to get into the Oval Office as well and Debbie sends him away. Kate returns to Charlie and tells him to set her up with the guy. Charlie agrees to put the guy on the list for the gala that evening. Charlie thinks that the guy should know some of the people who will be at the gala, because Charlie is pretty sure that the guy works for the government. Kate had been hoping for a non-government person, but agrees. In C.J.'s office, Leo, Josh, and C.J. are talking about the presidential race. The conversation turns to Toby, and C.J. remarks that Toby hasn't been the same since the funeral. Josh doesn't know what happened. C.J. tells him that Toby's brother, David, died the previous week. Josh wonders why Toby didn't call him. As he gets up to leave, C.J. asks him about the water bill. Josh proceeds to rattle off the same explanations that Cliff had and then leaves. C.J. turns to Leo and realizes that she may have to hire Cliff. It's Donna's turn to try and get into the Oval Office, but Debbie turns her away, too. Josh comes to Toby's office to talk to him, trying to express his condolences to Toby. Toby is angry with Josh for walking away from the rest of them. Josh tries to get Toby to join him for lunch, but Toby declines. Back at the bar, Toby and Senator Rafferty talk about what they have embarked on, whether they should have done it, or if they had rushed into it. Act III Josh is on the phone in the lobby talking with a staffer about Congressman Santos' upcoming appearance on Meet the Press. The show wants to bump him for Senator Rafferty. Donna comes up and tells him to hang up and pulls him into a closet to talk to him privately. She tells him that Senator Rafferty has released her health-care plan and tells Josh to look at the language in the text. It is almost identical to language proposed by the President but not in the final plan. She tells him that only a handful of people knew this language, so how did Rafferty get it? Josh goes back to C.J.'s office to ask if the President has met with Senator Rafferty, even informally. C.J. says that no meeting took place. Josh points out that the Senator's health-care plan reads like "Vintage Bartlet." C.J. tells him not to worry about Rafferty and to focus on South Carolina. Will comes to see Annabeth to ask if she has any ideas on how to make the Vice President a better candidate. Cliff returns to see C.J. and she offers him a job in the White House, which he turns down. C.J. and Cliff argue for a bit and she tells him to get out of her office. Josh returns to see Toby and asks him if he's seen Senator Rafferty's health-care plan. Toby says that he has but hedges around the details. Josh realizes that Toby gave the material to Rafferty and is also the one that's pushing her to get in the race. Toby questions why he didn't ask Toby to come with him. The argument quickly escalates and the two men begin to throw papers at one another, and then they come to blows (which is how Toby cuts his face) and Josh leaves. Toby begins to cry at his desk. Margaret, who has witnessed the fight comes to see C.J. and C.J. gets up and goes to Toby's office. She brings him some ice and a towel and tells him to take some time off. Toby admits to C.J. that David committed suicide once he was diagnosed with cancer: instead of fighting it, he just walked away (like Josh). In the bar, Senator Rafferty has asked Toby how David died. He replies, cancer. Act IV Kate and Charlie are finishing a meeting on Capitol Hill. Kate is still after Charlie about the guy. After a few more questions, Kate realizes the guy in question is her ex-husband. It seems that Charlie had misunderstood the reason for the inquiry, "Is Kate seeing anyone?" Toby is in his office when Leo arrives. Toby is looking at a pair of glasses, which, he tells Leo, belonged to his brother. Leo has come to tell him that he can't work at the White House and support Senator Rafferty. He also says that Toby and Josh are not the outsiders any longer: they are the party, now. Santos, Josh, Ronna, and Ned arrive for the gala. Santos is mildly irked at his placement for the photo-op with the President. Josh tells him not to worry about it. C.J. is talking with the President, telling him that its only a photo-op, and then he can leave. Annabeth comes up and tells the President that she has found a few people that he can safely talk with, as they are not affiliated with any of the campaigns. The two walk off. C.J. comes over to talk with Toby and they look over at Josh working the room on behalf of Santos. Toby tells C.J. that he is going down to the bar but she can call him if she needs him. Cliff appears behind C.J. and she turns around and tells him that she is hiring him for a job in the White House and she's not taking no for an answer. To seal the deal, she brings Cliff over to the President and leaves the two of them together. Kate arrives at the gala. Charlie comes up to her and compliments her on her appearance. Charlie walks away and Will comes up to talk to Kate. They make small talk and steal furtive glances at one another. In the bar, Toby and Senator Rafferty finish up their conversation. She says that she will stay in the race until after South Carolina. Toby tells her that she might get a VP nod, but she tells him that that is not the reason why she got into the race. Quotes :C.J. Cregg: This lack of Josh is becoming a problem. :C.J. Cregg: Hi, pookie. - You think the president picked a horse. :Greg Brock: He's done more than that. He's channeling support. But what do I know? :C.J. Cregg: I know a lot for a woman of my years. The president supports all Democratic candidates and will remain neutral until after the primaries. :Greg Brock: What if he did? Hypothetically? - Back a candidate now? - Hypothetically. :C.J. Cregg: Congress would go through the roof. Anything the president tried, they'd kill. It'd appear as support of a candidate that half the Democrats and all Republicans despise and bring his agenda for the year to a halt. :Greg Brock: If that, hypothetically, was what was happening he probably wouldn't tell anybody. He probably wouldn't even tell you. :Cliff Calley: Congress won't touch it. Even if I thought more of it than I do, which is little, the New Mexico delegation can't vote for it 'cause it makes them look too pro-EPA. Sylbie in Colorado can't vote for it 'cause it makes him look too anti-EPA. The California Central Valley folks can't support it because any funding they get from it'll be deducted from the 42 million they're already getting from the EPA for pollution management. Collins might vote for it just to piss off Sylbie, but I wouldn't stake my morning on anything Hugh Collins might do. He's a bit of a tippler. :C.J. Cregg: Why'd you come in here if you weren't prepared to play ball? :Cliff Calley: My niece loves those little M&M's with the Seal of the President on 'em. She takes 'em to school, gets a lot of attention. You got any of those lying around? :C.J. Cregg: You want me to hire Cliff Calley? ...No. He's the wrong choice. And he's irritating. And he's obnoxious. :Leo McGarry: That's worked for us in the past. :Josh Lyman: '(Off camera to Margaret outside C.J.'s office) Here's the part where in deference to my years of service, you suspend for a moment the Teutonic allegiance to protocol and shift thyself out of my way. :'Margaret: (To C.J.) Josh Lyman to see you. :Josh: 'Was this place such a killjoy when I worked here, or have the Brownshirts taken over? (cellphone vibrates) :'Margaret: 'You're vibrating. :'Josh: '''I feel that. Thanks. (answers phone) Yes? ''NO!'' I'm in town for one day! Tell him he reschedules this thing again, I'm gonna tear off his head and fashion his skull into a decorative fruit bowl! :'''Leo McGarry: That's not your job anymore. You are no longer the guy who picks losing candidates and ushers them to their principled end. You're the guy who takes good men and makes them great. You and Josh, you still think you're terriers, barking at the heels of the party. You are the party. :C.J. Cregg: Can this be one of those nights where we get sloshed and forget we work together? :Toby Ziegler: Ah, that would be lovely. Cast Starring *Dulé Hill as Charlie Young *Allison Janney as C.J. Cregg *Joshua Malina as Will Bailey *Mary McCormack as Kate Harper *Janel Moloney as Donna Moss *Richard Schiff as Toby Ziegler *John Spencer as Leo McGarry *Bradley Whitford as Josh Lyman *with Jimmy Smits as Matthew Santos *and Martin Sheen as President Jed Bartlet Special Guest Stars *Kristin Chenoweth as Annabeth Schott *Mark Feuerstein as Cliff Calley *and Lily Tomlin as Deborah Fiderer Guest Starring *Sam Robards as Greg Brock *Mel Harris as Ricky Rafferty *NiCole Robinson as Margaret Hooper *Karis Campbell as Ronna Beckman *Evan Arnold as Ned Carlson Co-Starring *Kurt Scholler as Guard Larry *J.F. Davis as Bartender *Rebecca Avery as Aide References "The West Wing" Drought Conditions (2005) Category:Episodes Category:Season 6